Porsche Tops Friday Morning Test at Paul Ricard

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Porsche has topped the time charts in Friday’s opening test session at Paul Ricard, as the official pre-season Prologue test kicks off for FIA World Endurance Championship teams.

The No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Neel Jani was quickest in the four-hour session, thanks to a 1:38.264 lap.

Jani’s time, while one-second slower than last year’s best lap at Paul Ricard, was some 2.2 seconds quicker than the No. 5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid in second and the No. 7 Audi R8 completing the top-three.

Porsche is only running a single 919 Hybrid today, with the No. 1 car expected to take to the track on Saturday.

Baxi DC Racing Alpine led the way in LMP2, with Nelson Panciatici going quickest in his No. 35 Alpine A460 Nissan. The Frenchman reeled off a quick time of 1:47.340, leading an Alpine 1-2 in class.

The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE of Gianmaria Bruni and Paolo Ruberti’s No. 50 Larbre Competition Corvette C7.R were quickest in GTE-Pro and GTE-Am, respectively.

Twenty six of the 29 entries turned laps, with the aforementioned No. 1 Porsche, as well as the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR and the No. 78 KCMG Porsche not taking to the track.

No major incidents were reported, although there was a brief red flag.

Friday’s second of three sessions gets underway at 2 p.m. local time.

RESULTS: Test Session 1

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John